Meadowview Acres by Donna Cain Page A

boys smile fade and an anxious look come over his face. Sheriff Buchanon walked forward to meet him and immediately took his arm.
    “Hey, Bud. I’ve got your mom with me. She’s okay, but we need to have a talk, okay? Let’s get in my car.”
    He led Darren over to the passenger side and opened the door for him. Darren looked inside at his mother’s face and then at Shasta. Looking back at the sheriff he asked, “Where’s Dad? Is it my Dad, Sheriff?”
    “I’m afraid so, Darren. Hop in the car, Son.”
    As Darren lowered himself into the cruiser, Sheriff Buchanon rushed to the other side and hopped into the driver’s seat. When he was all the way in, with the door shut behind him, he looked at the boy. Darren’s head was bowed and a look of grief was on his face before the sheriff could confirm his suspicions. He didn’t cry; he just sat there as Sheriff Buchanon relayed the information. Agnes and Shasta listened quietly, since they hadn’t had a chance to hear all of the details yet. When he was finished, Sheriff Buchanon put a strong hand on Darren’s shoulder and said, “I want you to know something, Son. Your dad was a fine man. He was an upstanding, intelligent man of fine character. I respected him, Darren. The whole town did. You should be proud of him. I know for a fact he was damn proud of you.”
    Tears rolled down Darren’s cheeks, and Don Buchanon pulled the boy into a tight embrace. “You get it out, Son. It’s okay. It will all be okay. It’s going to hurt a while. But you’ll get through it, you and your mom. You’ll get through.”
    The sheriff could hear soft crying from the back seat and decided to get them home. He released Darren and patted his shoulder. “I’m going to drive you all home now. Don’t worry about your cars. I’ll have Rachel dispatch some deputies over to get them to you. Just leave me your keys and we’ll take care of the rest. Shasta, I’ll let your dad know what’s going on. If you need us to do anything, anything at all, you don’t hesitate. Okay, Agnes, Darren, I mean it.”
    He saw the nods from the rear view mirror and the seat beside him and started the cruiser. They drove in silence the five miles back to Meadowview Acres. Sheriff Buchanon felt sick to his stomach. He didn’t know why this had to happen to such a nice family. It just didn’t seem fair.
    When they got to the front of the Jackson’s home, he helped Agnes out of the backseat and walked her up to the front door. He saw Shasta holding onto Darren and felt good enough about the situation to leave. He told Agnes he would be in touch the next day with the autopsy results and headed back to his car.
    He called Bill Port on the way to the hospital and gave him a rundown of the events. Bill was as upset about the loss of Claymont as Don was but also concerned for Shasta. Don told him that she seemed fine, just sad. She was doing Darren some good by being there – Agnes too. Bill said that he would pick her truck up from the high school and give her a call after a little time had passed.
    Walking to the morgue while being assaulted by the glare of the florescent bulbs, Don Buchanon was counting his blessings. He was thankful for his wife and his kids. He was thankful for his friends and neighbors. He made a mental note to make a doctor’s appointment and get checked out. It’d been too long since his last checkup.
    Deputy Clay was already sitting in the waiting room when he reached the morgue. “Hey, Mike. What’s the word?”
    The deputy looked exhausted. His eyes were glazed over and his whole body seemed to droop. He looked at Sheriff Buchanon with blood-shot eyes and said, “Hi, Sheriff. The ambulance just brought him in about an hour ago. Doc says he’ll do the autopsy in the mornin’. Said there’s a lot of blood loss, though. More than usual with a brain hemorrhage. Said he’ll be done around noon tomorrow, and he’ll give ya a call then.”
    “That’s fine, Mike. I got the